iPhoto ‘11: Add places to your photos

If you have photos that don’t have GPS information, including print photos that were scanned to a disk, you can still map your photos in Places.

iPhoto matches recognizable location names you enter, such as “Seattle” or “Milan,” to a mapping database. When you add a location to a single photo or an entire Event, those photos are marked on the Places map.

Or, if you have latitude and longitude information for the place where you shot your photos, you can use that information to add the location.

Important: You must be connected to the Internet for the Places feature to show photo locations on the map.

To add a place name:

Select the photo or Event you want to add location information to.

Tip: If you select an Event, the location is added to every photo in that Event. But you can add locations to selected photos without adding locations to them all. To do so, select the photos you want, move your pointer over them, and then click the Info button. Skip to step 3.

Click the Info button in the toolbar to open the Information pane.

Select “Assign a Place” and start typing the location name to see the related names iPhoto suggests.

You can type city names, place names (such as “Empire State Building”), and addresses (such as “12345 Main St., Lincoln, NE”).

If you see the location you want appear in the pop-up menu, choose it. iPhoto marks your selected location with a red marker pin on the map in the Information pane.

If you don’t see the exact location you want in the pop-up menu, choose a location that’s nearby. For example, if you took a photo of a star at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, you can type “Hollywood” into the location field and then choose the Hollywood, California, option from the pop-up menu. Then go to step 5.

A red marker pin appears in the map in the Information pane.

To fine-tune the location, you can click the marker pin (it turns yellow) and drag it to a different location, such as a neighboring town, or a more specific location, such as a particular intersection.

You can click the plus and minus buttons to zoom in or out, and drag the map to show a different area.

To center the map on the pin, click the circle icon.

Note: You can move marker pins only in the small map that appears below Places in the Information pane. You can’t drag marker pins on the full-size Places map.

When you’re satisfied with the location as it appears in the Information pane, click the arrow next to the location name to view the marker on the full Places map.

To use latitude and longitude to add a place:

Select the photo or Event you want to add location information to.

Tip: If you select an Event, the location is added to every photo in that Event. But you can add locations to selected photos without adding locations to them all. To do so, select the photos you want, move your pointer over them, and then click the Info button. Skip to step 3.

Click the Info button to open the Information pane.

Select “Assign a Place,” and then type the latitude and longitude, separated by a comma.

For example, you can type “24, -110” or, if you prefer, you can use a longer format, such as “24.15988731, -110.50838234.”

It’s important to always put the latitude first.

Look at the map to confirm the location, and then do one of the following:

If the location is correct, continue to step 5.

If the location is incorrect, retype the latitude and longitude, or drag the pin to a more exact location on the map.

You can use the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out, and drag the map to center it on a better spot.

Note: You can move marker pins only in the small map that appears below Places in the Information pane. You can’t drag marker pins on the full-size Places map.

If you want, you can view the location marked on the full Places map by clicking the arrow next to the location name.

To copy the location of one photo to other photos:

You can copy the location of one photo to another photo or photos.

Select a photo that has the location assigned to it that you want to copy, and then choose Edit > Copy.

Select one or more photos that you want to assign the same location to, and choose Edit > Paste Location.

The location is added to the photos, which you can then view using Places.